The Gift of Art

Good Morning, everybody.

As I've noted in this blog I am looking for work. I was furloughed in 2004 and seeing that my job prospects were limited, I returned to school. I wanted a job that would allow me to work inside and something that had long-term potential. I picked computer graphics purely by chance; it sounded like fun and it was technology oriented.

Economics forced me to choose TCC's Visual Arts Center in Portsmouth as my school. I had no background in art but assumed that my degree would be more technical than artistic. I was very, very wrong.

My first semester was filled with basic art classes. Art history, fundamentals of drawing and painting, and art analysis were required courses. I was in a place I had never been. I mean, I had been to museums and looked at the pretty pictures and sculptures. But actually drawing and painting: never. I was lost and terrified. Most of my fellow students had been involved in some form of art all their lives.

And I struggled. I was using a part of my brain that had laid dormant for a long time. Regular classes were easy. I have taken a lot of standard courses in my life. But art draws on a unique part of your brain. It requires a skill set that I had not previously acquired.

And I was hating it.

But then, something clicked. (Cliche'. But true.)

I think my drawing class was the thing that helped me start to find my way. I had a great teacher who had enormous patience and a sense of humor and who took the time to show me that, even as I struggled, I was learning something.

Then art history grabbed me. I have always been a history buff so learning about the great artists and their works felt natural to me.

Now the work began to make sense. I could see how learning about this art stuff fit into my new profession. I could see how color theory and perspective worked in computer design and how seeing the master works developed my eye for good layout.

But the side benefit, perhaps the greatest benefit, was opening my eyes to art. Helping me to develop a greater understanding of the work and effort that goes into creating those things I had seen in the museum but had taken for granted.

So, to all who taught me, tolerated my struggles, and pushed me to understand;
Thank You!
I will never be able to repay you for what you did but I will be eternally grateful.

And I hope my work will someday do you proud.


Drawing study for the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci c.1495